Question

A class full of very good students means _____ failures for the teachers to worry about.
A) Lesser
B) Less
C) Fewer
D) Less than

Answer 1

Hint: This question deals with adjectives or describing words. These words are used to describe, modify or indicate a characteristic of a noun. For e.g. Tall building, short plant.
Adjectives are used in three degrees; positive, comparative and superlative. For e.g. large, larger, largest.

Complete answer:
The adjectives are words which describe certain characteristics of nouns, either subject or object. These adjectives are used in three degrees, all of which have their specific usage.
- The most commonly used is the positive degree. For e.g. I saw a black dog. The word black is an adjective in its positive degree. It tells us a specific character of a specific dog.
- The other is the comparative degree. For e.g. Your painting is better than mine. The word better is the comparative degree of the word good. It shows a comparison of one painting to another.
- The third is the superlative degree. For e.g. This is the smallest car. The word smallest is the superlative degree of the word small. It tells us about a specific car that has a specific characteristic which is at its extreme state.

Now let us look into the given options:
Option A – ‘Lesser’ is an incorrect option because it is the comparative form of the word ‘less’ and we do not see any comparison being made in the sentence.
Option B – ‘Less’ is the correct option because it is the positive form and is suitable as we do not need to make any comparisons.
Option C – ‘Fewer’ is also an incorrect option as it is a comparative form of the word ‘few’, and there is no visible comparison in the question.
Option D – ‘Less than’ is also a wrong option. Though the word ‘less’ is a positive form, the following word ‘than’ makes it into a comparative form. Thus, it is wrong, as there is no comparison being made in the question.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (B) Less.

Note:
The positive degree of an adjective can at times be used as a comparative degree.
This is done by adding words like than and as.
For e.g.
- My temperature is less than 100 degrees.
- My painting is as good as my brother’s.